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Updated: Aug 10, 2025

Probing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function in Mouse Brain Slices via Laser Flash Photolysis of Photoactivatable Nicotine
Published on: January 25, 2019
Recent Advances in the Discovery of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Allosteric Modulators
Dina Manetti1, Silvia Dei1, Hugo R Arias2
1NEUROFARBA Department, Section of Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Sciences, University of Florence, 50019 Florence, Italy.
Abstract:
Positive allosteric modulators (PAMs), negative allosteric modulators (NAMs), silent agonists, allosteric activating PAMs and neutral or silent allosteric modulators are compounds capable of modulating the nicotinic receptor by interacting at allosteric modulatory sites distinct from the orthosteric sites. This survey is focused on the compounds that have been shown or have been designed to interact with nicotinic receptors as allosteric modulators of different subtypes, mainly α7 and α4β2. Minimal chemical changes can cause a different pharmacological profile, which can then lead to the design of selective modulators. Experimental evidence supports the use of allosteric modulators as therapeutic tools for neurological and non-neurological conditions.
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